Room 101

[dave.woodhall]

John Russell gets it off his chest.

https://heroesandvillains.info/2023/08/17/room-101/

[Legion]

Done.

[UK Redsox]

Me and John are going to have words about his views on Rugby next time I see him

[LeeB]

Me and John are going to have words about his views on Rugby next time I see him

You can both sit down and talk for a while before agreeing that John is absolutely correct.

[danno]

It’s cheerier than his last article

[Sexual Ealing]

Penalty shoot-outs are fucking ace.

[edgysatsuma89]

Penalty shoot-outs are fucking ace.

Agreed, I love a penalty shoot out. Whether good or bad it releases some drug level chemical reactions in my nut.

[Pat McMahon]

Penalty shoot-outs are fucking ace.

They're great for neutrals. And goalkeepers.

[Sexual Ealing]

Penalty shoot-outs are fucking ace.

They're great for neutrals. And goalkeepers.

They've always been such a remote possibility for us that I think of them solely in terms of being a neutral. They're the only reason I'll watch non-Villa or international games.

[lovejoy]

Matches of 60 minutes and stop the clock when it’s out of play.

[Simon Page]

Penalty shoot-outs are fucking ace.

Nah, it's a hideous Americanism. Make them replay infinitely, or until they collapse through exhaustion.

Or next goal wins.

[German James]

I'd like it if penalty shootouts took place with both players blindfolded.

[eamonn]

Penalty shoot-outs are fucking ace.

Nah, it's a hideous Americanism. Make them replay infinitely, or until they collapse through exhaustion.

Or next goal wins.

The "Silver Goal" didn't last long, did it?! I think France won a Euros with it in 2000 thanks to Trezeguet (the good one, not our one).

[PeterWithesShin]

I'm always reminded of this article with Graham Allner whenever replays are talked about. Alvechurch v Oxford City, 4th qualifying round of the 71/72 FA Cup and the longest ever FA Cup tie.

Before the first match we didn't know them, either as a team or as individuals, but by the end we were on first name terms. We'd turn up and it would be, "Hey there Bill", "How are you Pete?", that kind of thing. We got to know each other, and we got on really well. They had a lot of army players at the time and they weren't bad, either as a team or as people. Obviously they were hard to beat.

We played each other six times in less than three weeks - Saturday, Tuesday, Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, Monday - and four of those games went to extra time. Plus we had a league game in between, and we all had full-time jobs as well. Then we had to play Aldershot in the first round proper on the Wednesday, two days after we finally beat Oxford, by which time we were on our knees.

In those days after the first replay any others had to be held on neutral ground. We won the toss for where the third game would be, so we played it at St Andrews. The fourth was at Oxford United, then they won the toss to decide where the fifth would be so we played at the Manor Ground again, and the sixth game was at Villa Park. I remember that it was freezing cold. Today it probably wouldn't have been played because of the frozen pitch.

By the end the manager, Rhys Davies, was really struggling with his team talks. We already knew everything about each other. There was nothing to say other than just go on the pitch and scrap. The manager was a motivator rather than a football brain if you like, and in the end he was just talking about character. He started using two words that I still remember. He'd say: "If you're going to win this you're going to need tonk and bottle." To this day I've got no idea what "tonk and bottle" means. It wasn't refined football chat.

After the game we went into the home dressing-room and Doug Ellis came down and started pouring out the champagne for us. We were exhausted, and there was the Aston Villa chairman pouring champagne into paper cups. We were too knackered to go out afterwards. I think we shared the champagne with the Oxford lads, but we all had work the next day, they had to get down to Oxford and we were playing Aldershot two nights later. It was quite a parting, though. We'd got to know them so well and we shared this great saga.

I scored in the first and third games. In the first I'd put us 2-0 up but we ended up drawing 2-2. Then we found out we'd drawn Aldershot, which was a big thing for a club like ours. So we were never going to just give up. In the end we lost 4-2 in the next round. We were so tired, we were never going to do anything in that one.

[PeterWithesShin]

There was also the 1980 FA Cup semi finals, 3 played at VP. West Ham v Everton, and Liverpool v Arsenal twice. All three games finished 1-1.